


Flight

by echoist



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-07
Updated: 2010-05-07
Packaged: 2017-10-09 08:44:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/85258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoist/pseuds/echoist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in a non-canon world, sometime post-Shura but before acid!Tokyo.  This was supposed to be a drabble.  Oops.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flight

        Kurogane climbed the back stairs up from the kitchen to the small second floor wedged beneath the eaves, wondering why it was his job to wake up the truant wizard. As poorly as he had been sleeping since their arrival in this country, he didn't want to see anyone still abed after the sun had been up for nearly twenty minutes.

        “Oi,” Kurogane called in lieu of knocking, sticking his head inside the tiny, cramped room Fay and Sakura had decided to share. Each room held only one bed, and it had seemed the least embarrassing arrangement at the time. “Get your ass up, breakfast is - “

        He paused, watching the play of early morning light across the wizard's tousled hair, blowing gently in the breeze. “...ready.” Fay leaned against a wrought iron rail edging the tiny balcony, watching someone or something Kurogane could not see. The clothes they had bartered from the tailor's shop in the square fit him like a glove and Kurogane thought he had never seen the wizard look so at home.

        Fay motioned him across to the slender double doors with an eager motion. The ninja obliged, deciding the fruit and pastries below could wait a few more minutes. He pointed to a spot just below the railing, where a pair of swallows swooped and fluttered, hard at work on their nest. Fay chuckled, watching the smaller bird slide under the other's wing, pecking at the twig it carried while chattering up a storm. The larger bird puffed up its feathers, shaking its beak in blustery indignation at the playful interference from its mate. Fay's linen shirt hung open at the collar, white tails falling over the waist of soft, tan-colored slacks, and Kurogane couldn't help but notice how little separated him from the birds below.

        “You're happy here, aren't you?” He asked quietly, the answer written plainly in the wizard's relaxed posture.

        Fay smiled, eyes open and full of a deep, contented peace. “It's beautiful,” he answered, taking in the ivy and rose covered walls lining the bustling street. “It might seem like a small thing, but I can read all the street signs. I don't think I could get lost in a place like this.” He smiled, ducking his head. “Everyone has been so kind to us, even though we're outsiders...we're always outsiders.”

        “We don't have to leave.” Kurogane felt the words leave his mouth in a rush of air, a hollow space in their wake that would not be filled. He tried to breathe, felt a band tighten around his chest as he waited for the wizard's response.

        “Don't be silly, Kuro-chan,” Fay chided, gazing down at the birds. “There are still so many feathers out there in other worlds; Syaoran-kun won't give up until we find them all. Besides, it's hardly fair to make Sakura-chan wait for her memories, just because...I...”

        “I didn't mean the kids,” Kurogane added, reckless words spilling out like a river breaking past the dam. “We never asked for this quest, it's not our burden to bear.”

        “They need us,” Fay said fiercely, turning to face the warrior. Maybe it was the mild, late spring sunlight, or the easy, trusting smiles from passersby; he had begun to believe that winter was far enough gone to forget the taste of snow. “Maybe you think you'd be better off alone, but I -”

        “Alone? Did you hear me?” Kurogane reached out and took the wizard's hand, pressing it against his uncomfortable muslin shirt. “I haven't slept in three days, and it took me until this morning to realize the simplest thing: _You weren't there_.” Fay stared up at him, busy street below forgotten. “I couldn't sleep because I couldn't hear you breathing in the dark.” 

        “I won't leave them,” the wizard stated, his voice steadier than the pounding heartbeat he could feel against his fingers.    
_Hear what I can't say. _

        “I know.” Kurogane admitted, looking away. “Only ever since Shura, I've thought...if one of these days I wake up in another world and you're -”

  
_        Don't. _   
Fay's eyes shut down, a practiced smile replacing momentary indecision.    
_I'm not going anywhere, _   
he thought.    
_That's what I want to tell you. That's what I wish were true enough to hold. _   
He pulled away, pale hair falling across half-shut eyes. 

        “Come on, Kuro-pon,” he called in a sing-song voice, lifting his head. “Breakfast is ready, right?”

        Kurogane said nothing, arm falling uselessly to his side. The morning breeze seemed colder in the wizard's absence and he trailed along behind in silence. 

  
9/09/2008


End file.
